Waltham, Mass. -- August 26 -- The use of marijuana as medicine is now permitted in Massachusetts and nearly 25 others states, despite Federal law prohibiting the drug and lack of approval by the Food and Drug Administration.

Yet the research on the drug is sparse, and the questions about its appropriate use as a medicine and its effectiveness as a therapy continue to be asked. The September edition of Physician Focus with the Massachusetts Medical Society examines these questions, looking at the current evidence surrounding the drug.

The program, Is Marijuana Medicine?, is directed to patients who may be considering using it for medicinal purposes. The discussion will examine such questions as: Is marijuana effective for medical conditions? If so, which ones? How significant are the risks of using this drug as medicine? And what should patients know about this drug if they are considering using it for medicinal purposes?

Guests on the program are Alan Ehrlich, M.D., Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and Senior Deputy Editor of DynaMed, a clinical reference tool created by physicians for health care professionals that examines medical articles for clinical relevance and scientific validity, and Kevin Hill, M.D., Director of the Substance Abuse Consultation Service in the Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts and an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

Physician Focus is a noncommercial production of the Massachusetts Medical Society and Hopkinton (Mass.) Community Access Television, HCAM-TV. Now in its tenth year, the monthly half-hour program brings viewers health and medical information on timely topics from physicians and other healthcare experts. Distributed as a public service, the program reaches more than 275 communities in Massachusetts each month through the courtesy of public access television stations. For details on the program, visit www.physicianfocus.org.

The Massachusetts Medical Society, with more than 24,000 physicians and student members, is dedicated to educating and advocating for the patients and physicians of Massachusetts. The Society, under the auspices of NEJM Group, publishes the New England Journal of Medicine, a leading global medical journal and web site, and NEJM Journal Watch alerts and publications covering 13 specialties. The Society is also a leader in continuing medical education for health care professionals throughout Massachusetts, conducting a variety of medical education programs for physicians and health care professionals. Founded in 1781, MMS is the oldest continuously operating medical society in the country.

HCAM-TV was founded April 1, 2004 by the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Hopkinton as a nonprofit corporation to manage local access to cable broadcast facilities. For information on HCAM, visit http://www.hcam.tv